Sound Actions: Celebrate Long Island Sound through Community Stewardship

The Sea Research Foundation (Mystic Aquarium) will conduct a two-day event to provide information to 20,000 people about ways to steward Long Island Sound and conduct a community cleanup in Mystic. A survey of people living in communities surrounding the Sound found a low level of environmental knowledge about the Sound and its water quality problems. The survey also found both high levels of environmental concern and a belief that individuals could change something about their everyday behavior to improve the water quality in the Sound. Major project activities to increase public awareness and stewardship include: 1) an event at Mystic Aquarium with stations offering the following: an Aquatic Invertebrate Meet and Greet, Enviroscape, a 3D table-top watershed model focused on identifying sources of stormwater pollution, and information about Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding, Marine Debris etc.; 2) outreach aimed at engaging 6,500 people to take a pledge to improve the Sound’s health; 3) a community shoreline cleanup engaging 500 community partners, local business and youth groups in picking-up 400 pounds of debris and delivery of it to a local transfer station for weighing and reporting; and 4) active outreach to generate interest in the events using social media and signs to promote both the event and Sound stewardship. Project partners include Sacred Heart University and Connecticut Sea Grant, Mystic Seaport, Mystic Seaport, and Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center.

New York

Summer Youth Marine Education Program for Long Island Sound

The City of Glen Cove will manage a summer youth marine education program for 500 campers, ages kindergarten to 6th grade, from moderate-income families and 116 counselors concerning Long Island Sound environmental resources and problems in Nassau County, New York. This project aims to engage campers in hands-on activities and demonstrations at local beaches and on-the-water that create awareness of beach ecology, what causes hypoxia in coastal waters, marine life, and the impact of floatable and other types of pollution on and to strengthen stewardship of the Sound. Major program activities include:1) a “Science Sail”, where campers and counselors will drag a tow net, log findings and create a discovery box of Long Island marine life aboard the historic sloop Christeen out of the Waterfront Center; 2) a “Harbor Habitat Discovery Beach Walk” where they will discover and log what they find while walking along the beach and waterfront park including species of local marine life, beach ecology, as well as the detrimental impact of floatable debris on coastal habitats on an inventory sheet; 3) a stormwater pollution prevention and boater safety demonstration led by the Director of the Hempstead Harbor Protection and the City of Glen Cove Harbor Master; and 4) participation in International Coastal Cleanup Day hosted by the City of Glen Cove Beautification Committee and the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor. Campers will make presentations about what they learned from the cleanup and over the summer.

Organizing Long Island Sound Beach Cleanups

Recipient: American Littoral SocietyLISFF Grant: $6,000.00 (EPA)Matching Funds: $150,000.00Total Project Funds: $156,000.00Project Area: Suffolk, Nassau, Queens, and Bronx Counties
American Littoral Society will organize the 2015 International Beach Cleanup at sites affecting the Long Island Sound along 80 miles of shoreline in Queens, Suffolk, Nassau and Bronx Counties, New York. Combined sewer overflows, trash from stormwater and littering are a significant sources of debris found on the beaches in the Long Island Sound watershed and are detriments to people (broken glass, jagged metal), to wildlife (entanglement, ingestion), and to natural resources (habitat destruction, unsightly landscape). Organized beach cleanups address the issues of floatable debris and non-point pollution prevention. Major project activities will include: organizing 1,500 volunteers from businesses, community groups and 10 schools to document and remove litter on beaches; 2) information about amount and types of debris collected will be input into an database to inform and devise strategies to combat marine pollution; 3) 5,000 members of the public and clean-up volunteers will receive education about what they can do on a daily basis to solve the problem of floatable debris; and 4) information about pre- and post-beach cleanups will be shared in the newsletter, Littorally Speaking, through social media platforms, and on websites such as NY Cares, VolunteerMatch, ServeNet, Kids for Community, NY Cares, Idealist, Ioby, and Pace University.

Engaging the Public in Reducing Floatable Pollution in the Bronx River and Long Island Sound

The Bronx River Alliance will conduct a project to address the issue of floatable pollution entering the Bronx River and Long Island Sound, Bronx County, NY. The Bronx River annually delivers 16 billion gallons of water—and more than 1,200 cubic yards of floatable debris—into Long Island Sound. Stormwater runoff from hardscaped surfaces washes debris into the river, combined sewer overflows carry even more trash, and passersby throw litter into the river. To stem the flow of floatable pollution, major project activities will include: 1) eight paddle and pick-up canoe trips ultimately engaging 120 volunteers removing 2,000 pounds of floatables along the river; 2) a boom cleanup engaging 20 volunteers to clear 500 pounds of floatables from the shore ends of the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) floatables boom which are inaccessible to the trash skimmer; 3) A National Estuary Day International Coastal Cleanup will be engaging at least 75 volunteers to collect 2,000 pounds of floatables and other trash from the shoreline of Soundview Park; 3) conducting a clean-up engaging 215 volunteers to collect 4,500 pounds of floatables and other trash from the shoreline; and 4) development of flyers, web, and social media communications for the project that highlight the connections between the Bronx River and the Sound, why floatables are a problem, and how they can be prevented. Project partners include: NYCDEP, and NYC Department of Parks and Recreation.

All for Wildlife: Discovering Art in Coastal Cleanups around Long Island Sound

Recipient: Group for the East EndLISFF Grant: $10,000.00 (EPA)Matching Funds: $10,000.00Total Project Funds: $20,000.00Project Area: Town of Southold

Group for the East End will develop a program that blends coastal cleanups, education, and artwork to inform the public about the negative impact of plastics on marine life on Long Island Sound in the Town of Southold, New York. Globally, two billion people live within 30 miles of a coastline, generating 100 million metric tons of plastic debris and, of that, nearly eight million metric tons goes into the marine environment. This pollution kills marine life, compromises human health, decreases tourism and recreation, and poses hazards to navigation and transportation. Major project activities to address the problem will include: 1) developing and delivering “What Washed Ashore?” introducing children at five schools and adults to coastline ecology and marine pollution; 2) organizing more than 12 coastal cleanups along 10 miles of Sound shoreline; 3) documenting, categorizing and delivering cleanup debris to local artisans to be repurposed into seven wildlife sculptures to depict marine animal that are harmed or killed from plastic and other debris; 4) recruiting 750 volunteers to participate in the cleanups and art projects; and 5) unveiling wildlife sculptures in public spaces, festivals, and events to generate awareness and better educate the public about this problem. Project partners: East End Arts Council, Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, Mattituck Park District, North Fork Audubon Society, Suffolk County Department of Parks, and Town of Southold Department of Public Works.

Gardeners of the Sound

Install a native habitat garden at Sagamore Hill with information about the Long Island Sound. The program will engage five to ten volunteers to install the native habitat, engage a total of nine classes from three schools, and hold two lecture and field workshops. The demonstration garden will engage approximately 75,000 annual visitors.

National Audubon Society/Audubon New York will deliver an environmental education program with workshops, a native habitat demonstration garden, and signage about the ecological, economic, cultural, and recreational value of Long Island Sound located at Sagamore Hill Historic Site, the home of President Theodore Roosevelt, which overlooks the Sound in Oyster Bay, New York. Major project activities will include: 1) installing a native habitat garden at Sagamore Hill with information about the Long Island Sound and how people can play an active role in its protection targeted at the 60,000 annual visitors to Sagamore Hill and the 15,000 visitors to the Theodore Roosevelt Audubon Sanctuary located near the Roosevelt home; 2) install 22 signs and two interpretive panels with QR codes linked to Sagamore Hill’s mobile tour; and 20 garden plaques at the garden identifying native New York plant species; 3) regularly updating garden data on yardmap.org for the Future Leaders of Watershed students to access and share with others; 4) recruit five to ten volunteers to assist with in-school lessons and demonstration garden planting and maintenance; 5) engage three Roosevelt Union Free School District schools and nine classes: and 6) hold two lecture and field workshops at the garden; and 7) reach 15,000 members of the public about the project through social and other media outreach. Partners include: National Park Service, Washington Rose Centennial Avenue and Ulysses Byas Elementary Schools.

Host a one-day event to engage and inform children and adults about how to play active roles in preserving the Long Island Sound through hands-on activities. The project will reach 400 participants and recruit approximately 75 families to volunteer with local alewife and water quality monitoring. The Whaling Museum & Education Center will host a one-day public event aimed at attracting 400 participants to educate, inform, and build awareness in local communities about Long Island Sound in a hands-on, accessible way in Cold Spring Harbor. The main objective of SOUNDoff is to help visitors understand, protect, and advocate for the Sound by promoting a greater awareness of human impacts on the health of the estuary, directly or indirectly, and sharing practical ways to contribute to a cleaner Sound. Major project activities include: 1) active local outreach to generate interest in the event; 2) conducting a one-day event to engage and inform both adults and children about the ways individuals can play active roles in preserving the Sound. The event will offer hands-on activities including a rescue activity station to clean up a mock oil spill, a water quality monitoring station where visitors may test actual samples, learn how to understand the results and enter those results into an international database, a touch tank of local marine organisms such as oysters and horseshoe crabs combined with presentations about the impact of local marine debris and stormwater pollution on the Sound; and 3) recruiting approximately 75 families to volunteer with local alewife and water quality monitoring groups. Project partners: Seatuck Environmental Association, Suffolk County Department of Public Works, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County.